Hong Kong private equity real estate firm Gaw Capital Partners has acquired a new Japanese property, expanding the company’s datacentre portfolio amid an artificial-intelligence boom.

Gaw Capital has acquired an 11,233 square metre property in Fuchu Intelligent Park, a data-center cluster, expanding its existing stake in the area, according to a company statement Monday. The property, within 30 kilometres of central Tokyo, will double the scale of data centres in the vicinity making it the largest such facility in Fuchu City in terms of information-technology capacity, the statement added.

This latest acquisition underscores how private equity firms are doubling down on data centres in Asia amid an AI boom. Demand in Southeast Asia and North Asia is expected to expand about 25 per cent a year through 2028, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. That compares with 14 per cent a year in the US. Gaw Capital has raised equity of US$22.3 billion since 2005 and has assets of US$33.7 billion under management as of the third quarter of 2023, according to the company’s website.

“Technological advancements in Japan, especially the ever-growing development of artificial intelligence, which requires exponential computing power, will continue to drive demand for data centres,” said Isabella Lo, managing director, principal of investments and head of Japan at Gaw Capital Partners, in the statement.